


A Little Mix

by zoeteniets



Category: Emmerdale
Genre: Break Up, Cute, Fluff, Gen, Mixtape, Post-Break Up
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-03-19
Updated: 2017-03-19
Packaged: 2018-10-08 01:31:55
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 720
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10374828
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/zoeteniets/pseuds/zoeteniets
Summary: Liv insists on playing a CD in the car as Aaron drives her to school.





	

The first thing he does after it all goes to hell is march straight into the Headteacher’s office at Liv’s old school and demand that they readmit her. The Headteacher seems surprised to see him; he says Liv’s suspension was only temporary anyway but that Robert wouldn’t be reasoned with when they had refused to take her back straight away. Aaron is tempted to think about that a bit more, but he's still wincing every time someone mentions Robert’s name, and so he files that piece of information away for examination later instead.

Aaron starts driving Liv into school as a way of making sure she actually makes it there and doesn't skive off on the way. But also does it for his own benefit because he likes the 40 minutes of quiet he gets to spend listening to the radio and focusing on the road, rather than the ache in his head and his heart. Liv’s not very chatty in the morning. Aaron doesn’t mind; he’s content just to have her near.

They agree that the radio is the most diplomatic way of deciding what to listen to, rather than fighting over whose Spotify they should have on. Robert can tell whether Liv likes the song that is playing by how quickly her fingers type on her phone, a lovely detail that Aaron knows he never would have discovered were it not for these 8 am drives.

But one morning, Liv breaks their truce.

“I want to listen to this album on the way in,” she demands.

Aaron protests, but he’s still not sleeping very well and he hasn’t had enough caffeine yet to argue with Liv's teenager-logic (if Robert were still here he would probably say that Liv needs to start a debating club, or maybe try taking Law at A-Level). Aaron agrees to a compromise as long as they can listen to something he picks the following morning and Liv reluctantly agrees.

The first song that comes on is a jerky, twangy pop song that Aaron eventually recognises as  _Somebody This I Used to Know_  by Gotye. He thinks it’s a bit of a strange choice for her, but doesn’t say anything. Then there are the upbeat drum sounds of  _Shut Up And Let Me Go_ , a song he hasn't heard since he was doing his GCSEs, and after that an even more vintage track in the form of Blondie's  _Heart of Glass._   

“Did you make this mixtape?” he asks Liv over Dua Lipta's break up manifesto when it starts playing.

“Me and Gabby, why?”

“Just a weird mix of songs, that’s all…”

Inevitably there will be some Little Mix on there, and Aaron is proved right as  _Shout Out To My Ex_ soon starts blasting through the speakers (Aaron sees Liv quickly turn the volume up when she thinks he is not looking).

Aaron knows Liv loves this band, but he’s a bit surprised when she quietly starts singing along.

“Oh, I deleted all your pics,” she sings softly. “Then blocked your number from my phone…”

Aaron’s not thick, and he can’t help but smile. She’s made him a break-up playlist. His heart swells three sizes.

It’s enough that he doesn’t feel embarrassed suddenly belting out the chorus.

 

> Shout out to my ex, you’re really quite the man  
>  You made my heart break and that made me who I am  
>  Here’s to my ex, hey, look at me now, well, I  
>  I’m all the way up, I swear you’ll never bring me down

Liv looks at him with total shock and Aaron’s not sure whether it’s the fact that he can sing or that he knows the lyrics that she’s more surprised at. But they start giggling together and once they start they can’t stop.

Aaron takes a longer route to the school just so they can work through a rendition of  _Go Your Own Way_ by Fleetwood Mac together.

He’s sad to drop her off before the CD has played the whole way through, waving her off with a grin and a “please _try_ to be good, yeah?”

He makes it to the end of the road before he has to pull over and change the CD. Maybe one day soon he’ll be able to listen to it on his own. But not just yet…

**Author's Note:**

> I had 'shout out to my ex' stuck in my head all day for no apparent reason. 
> 
> Fandom is hurting a bit right now, but I am firmly on the robron positivity squad/train/rampage. Come join me in denial on tumblr. I'm iwillsendapostcard xx


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